BANGOR, Maine — Wednesday morning’s Class C boys quarterfinal featured a pair of teams who were no stranger to each other. Houlton met up with Washington Academy, while George Stevens Academy squared off against Orono. Both games featured teams playing one another for the third time on the year.
No. 3 Houlton (16-3), the defending Class C state champs, overcame a sluggish start to beat No. 6 Washington Academy 50-36. The Raiders of East Machias finish 12-8.
In the second game of the morning session, No. 7 Orono (12-7) upset No. 2 George Stevens Academy (15-3) of Blue Hill 68-57 to advance.
Houlton and Orono will face each other in the semifinals, 7:05 p.m. Friday evening. The two teams did not meet during the regular season.
In the first game of the morning session, both squads struggled in the opening quarter, as neither team could find the range early. Raider Gage Feeney broke the scoring ice for WA with an 8-foot jumper with 5:08 to play. Houlton’s first basket did not come until nearly halfway through the first quarter as Christian Crane scored from the low post with 4:25 remaining.
“We had a really tough time shooting the ball [in the first half],” Houlton coach Rob Moran said. “I figured they [WA] would come out in zone against us and we didn’t move the ball particularly well. Plus we missed a few layups and some foul shots, but the second half was much better.”
Houlton senior Kyle Bouchard had a strong all-around game, pouring in 25 points to lead all players and earning the Darling’s/BDN Player of the Game honor. Bouchard had 12 points in the first half and 13 in the second, converting from the low post, slashing to the basket and from behind the 3-point arc.
Seniors Crane and Dan Howe had 10 points and eight respectively for the Shires.
“The first half, we did what we wanted to do defensively,” Washington Academy coach Steve Pineo said. “We wanted to try to contain Bouchard, if we could. I think we did a decent job at that. But the second half, they [Houlton] started hitting some 3-pointers and we had to start playing catch-up. [Houlton’s] defense was really the difference in this game. We couldn’t seem to get much going.”
Washington Academy seniors Feeney and Austin Seavey and junior Cameron Varney were the only three players to score for the Raiders. Each had 12 points.
“We’ve got a great bunch of kids, who are not only good players, they are good students,” coach Pineo said. “I am super proud of them. You hate to see seniors like that leave your program.”
Houlton clung to a slim 22-21 halftime lead, but went on an 8-2 run on a 3-pointer and short jumper by Howe, a Bouchard free throw and Crane offensive putback, to start the third quarter and WA never recovered.
Houlton had previously beat the Raiders twice during the regular season — 67-61 Jan. 2 at Houlton and 64-57 Feb. 6 at East Machias.
Orono pulls off upset
In the second game, Orono coach Jason Coleman said he felt his team had a chance for the upset because the two squads split on the regular season, when the Red Riots didn’t have their full roster. In fact, Orono has played just five games with a full roster thus far.
“Our kids believed they could beat [GSA] and they came out and started that way,” he said. “We also made our foul shots down the stretch, which was huge.”
Sophomore Nate Desisto, who missed much of the season with a stress fracture in his leg, led Orono with 16 points, including 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter. Desisto was named the Darling’s/BDN Player of the Game. He did not play against GSA during the regular season, as he missed the first 13 games of the year.
Sophomore Jackson Coutts added 15 for the Red Riots, while senior Damian Heeger chipped in 11 and junior Kamron Hines added 10.
For the Eagles, senior Kelsey Allen poured in a game-high 21 points to lead all players, while freshman Taylor Schildroth and junior Nick Szwez both added 10.
GSA coach Dwayne Carter said playing Orono for the third time on the year was not the biggest challenge his squad faced.
“We haven’t played for nine days and I really think that was the big difference,” Carter said. “I think that had a big effect on us because we did not play well offensively at all. Defensively, [Orono] did what they needed to do. They shot free throws really well. Every time we got close, they would answer with a big shot. We never got our rhythm going.”
Orono beat GSA 64-56 in the season-opener Dec. 5 at Blue Hill, but the tables were turned at Orono Jan. 5, as the Eagles were victorious 60-43.